Automatic primer for internal combustion engines



March 12, 1935. J. w. FlTZ GERALD 1,993,925

AUTOMATIC PRIMER FOR INTERNAL COMBUSTION ENGINES Filed March 12, 1934 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 1 I v O /8 /9 U March 12, 1935. J w, z GERALD 1,993,925

AUTOMATIC PRIMER FOR INTERNAL COMBUSTION ENGINES Filed March 12, 1954 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Patented Mar. 12, 1935 2 UNITED STATES PATENT oer-ice.

AUTOMATIC PRIIVIEEv FOR INTERNAL COMBUSTION ENGINES John W. Fitz Gerald, Milwaukee, Wis., assignor to Briggs & Stratton Corporation, Milwaukee,

Wis., a corporation of Delaware Application March 12, 1934, Serial No. 715,134 11 Claims; (01. 123-180) This invention relates to certain new and 1156- link 10 connected to a lever 11, which is fixed ful improvements in automatic priming devices to the shaft of the throttle valve. The. intake. for internal combustion engines, and has as an manifold 7, as is customary, is located adjacent object to provide a priming device operable authe exhaust manifold 12.

tomatically by the throttle control of the en- The priming device'of this invention is indi- 5 gine, cated generally by the numeral 13 and. is

Another object of this invention is to provide mounted by brackets 14 in the region of the. eX- thermostatically actuated means to control the haust manifold. A pipe line 15. connects the operation of the primer by the throttle actuatinlet 16 of the priming device with the fuel suping means. 1 ply line 6, and a pipe line 17 connects the out- 1 0.

And a further object of this invention is to let 180i the priming device, with the intake provide a priming device of the character demanifold '7 under certain conditions, as will be scribed, which is readily applicable to any interhereinafter described. Communication is. thus nal combustion engine and particularly to auto established directly between the fuel supply line motive vehicle engines. 6 and the intake manifold so that fuel may be 15 With the above and other objects in view drawn directly into the intake manifold. which will appear as the description proceeds, This direct passage for the fuel embodies an my invention resides in the novel construction, axial bore 19 in the body 20 of the. primin decombination and arrangement of parts substanvice, which is enlarged, as at 19, to provide a 20 tially as hereinafter described and more parvalve seat 21, and communicates inwardly of the 20. ticularly defined by the appended claims, it bevalve seat 21 with a lateral bore 22 leading to in'g understood that such changes in the precise the outlet 18. A; valve 23 is mounted to engage embodiment of the herein disclosed invention the seat 21, and close the fuel passage, as shown may be made as comewithin the scope of the in Figure 6. I claims. The valve 23 has a pointed nose 24 which 25 In the accompanying drawings, 1 have illusenters the longitudinal bore 19 and one sideof trated one complete example of the physicalemthe nose is flattened to afford a line adjustment bodiment of my invention constructed accordof the degree of communication between the ining to the best mode I have so far devised for let and outlet to closely meter the volume of the practical application of the principles therefuel permitted to pass to the intake manifold. of,and in which: A stem 25 extends from the valve 23 out Figure 1 is a side view showing part of the through an enlarged bore 26 communicating carburetor and the'manifolds of an internal with the bore 19' to be slidably extended combustion engine, and illustrating the applicathrough a plug 27 closing the outer end of the tion of this invention thereto; I bore 26. The bore 26 forms a pocket for a com- 35 Figure 2 is an enlarged side view of the primpression spring 28, confined between the inner ing device per se; I end of the plug and afiange 29 on the valve Fi ur 3 s a 'v w taken th Figstem 'to yieldably urge the valve to its closed. ure 2 on the plane of the line 3-3; position. Figure 4 a w O t primingfievice; The extreme outer end portion of the valve e r a slde V1eW slmllar to j? stem is threaded and has a stop nut 30 adjustbut illustratlng the device in the condition ably seamed thereon The Valve is opened whch 1t assumes under higher temperatures, against the action of the Spring 28 by pushing e 6 Ion m1 (final Seem n thr h outwardly on the nut 30 and for this purpose, a lgur 1s g 0 g lever 31 is provided. The lever is medially Figure 5 on the plane of the lined-6. ivotd Sat 32 from bra k t Referring nowmore particularly to the acp f b d f th 3 eorme" as companying drawings in which like numerals in- E 9 o 9 f g t fi g dicate like parts throughoutthe several views, angme G 0 3 Y Jacen -1 P the numeral 5 designates the carburetor of an to (11513958. the lower mi d W3- 34 9 the 50 internal corfirlilbustiogi engine, o1A tfuel tZsiupply line l $h ta1ct1ve1enga ei 11 116 2 0. 6 eads to e car uretor an i s ou et' is conerr e Va ve is c ose ...6 eve in a nected to the intake manifold '7 through a riser upright position just engages the ,inner face-of 8. A throttle valve 9 is located in the riser 8, the nut 30 and asthe leveris swung about its 5 as is c t ar e o en and c edby a P o in a clockwise .d i n it egr t t Figures 2 and 5, the valve stem will be drawn outwardly to open the valve.

The lever 31 is actuated in this manner upon the opening of the throttle valve. The connection between the lever and the throttle valve comprises a lever 35 pivotally mounted from the body of the priming device as at 36 and a link 3'7 pivotally attached to the lever 35 as at 38. The outer end of the link 3'7 has an opening 37' to engage over the upper end of the lever 31 and hook itself in one of a series of grooves,

39 on the outer face of the lever 31, so that swinging movement of the lever 35 in a clockwise direction imparts a similar movement to the lever 31.

The outer end portion of the lever 35 has a plurality of holes 40, one of which receives a pin 41 which connects the link 10, and a control rod 42 to the lever 35. The control rod 42 leads to the accelerator (not shown) or any other suitable controlling means through which the posi tion of the throttle is regulated.

Hence, it will be seen that whenever the rod 42 is pull d to the right with respect to Figure l, the throttle valve 9 will be opened and concomitantly therewith, the valve 23 controlling the admission of fuel directly from the supply line to the intake manifold will be opened.

Inasmuch as the admission of priming fuel is desirable only during the starting cycle of the engine or whenever the engine is cold, thermostatically controlled means now about to be described, are provided for controlling the degree of opening of the valve 23, and also disrupting entirely the connection between the throttle control and the priming device when a predetermined temperature has been reached.

To this end, a hairpin shaped oi-metallic strip 44 is secured to the body 20, as at i5. The free end 46 of this bi-metallic strip bears against the underside of the link 37, and the disposition of the metals forming the strip is such that upon a temperature rise thereat, which is obtained by its proximity to the exhaust manifold, the link 37 will be gradually lifted.

As the link 37 is lifted, the leverage between the lever 35 and the lever 31 is decreased so that the valve 23 will be opened less by the operation of the throttle control as the tem perature of the engine rises.

When a sufficiently high temperature has been reached, the link 37 will be lifted to its maximum position as defined by a stirrup 17 extending over the top thereof and carried by the body of the priming device. In this maximum position of elevation, the link 37 is entirely disconnected from the lever 31, so that the throttle control functions without in any wise affecting the position of the priming valve, allowing its spring 28 to hold the same closed.

A second thermostatic control in the form of a bi-metallic strip 48 is, however, also provided to determine the degree of closure of the valve 23. This strip 48 is anchored as at 49 to the body and its outer free end carries an adjustable stop screw 40, whose inner end is pointed for engagement with the peripheral inner edge of the nut 30. When the engine is cold, the strip 48 is in the position illustrated in Figure 2, holding its stop screw all the way in to hold the valve open and afford direct communication between the fuel supply line and the intake manifold.

The valve will be held in this open position by the thermostat 48 until the temperature of the engine has risen suflici'entl'y to move the strip outwardly to carry its stop 50 out of the path of the nut 30. Thereafter, the valve will close under the action of its spring unless the temperature of the engine has not risen sufliciently to disengage the link 37 from the lever 31.

Consequently, during the initial starting of the engine when the engine is cold, the priming valve is continuously held open regardless of the action of the throttle control and after a predetermined temperature has been reached, the priming valve opens and closes in accordance with the opening and closing of the throttle valve until a second predetermined temperature is reached. at which the priming valve is allowed to close completely until such conditions again prevail at which a supply of priming fuel is necessary.

From the foregoing description taken in connection with the accompanying drawingsit will be readily apparent to those skilled in the art, that this invention affords a simple priming device for internal combustion engines, which is operable jointly by a thermostatic control and the throttle control, and that the device may be readily applied to any of the conventional automotive vehicle engines.

What I claim as my invention is:

1. An automatic priming device for internalv combustion engines having a throttle valve and a control for the throttle valve, a priming valve to control the admission of fuel to the engine, means to yieldably urge said priming valve closed, and a connection between the throttle control and the priming valve to open the priming valve upon actuation of the throttle control.

2. An automatic priming device for internal combustion engines having a throttle valve and a control for the throttle valve, a priming valve to control the admission of fuel to the engine, means to yieldably urge said priming valve closed, a connection between the throttle control and the priming valve to open the priming valve upon actuation of the throttle control, and temperature actuated means to control the actuation of the priming valve by the throttle control.

3. In an automatic primer for internal combustion engines having a throttle valve and a control therefor, a priming valve to control the admission of fuel to the engine biased to closed position, a connection between the priming valve and the throttle control to open the priming valve simultaneously with the opening of the throttle valve, and temperature actuated means to determine the degree of opening of the priming valve by said throttle control.

4. In an automatic primer for internal combustion engines having a throttle valve and a control therefor, a priming valve to control the admission of fuel to the engine biased to closed position, a connection between the priming valve and the throttle control to open the priming valve simultaneously with the opening of the throttle valve, and temperature actuated means to disrupt the connection between the priming valve and the throttle control upon the attainment of a predetermined ambient temperature, so that after such temperature is reached, the throttle control is ineffective to open the priming valve.

5. An automatic priming device for internal combustion engines having a throttle valve and. a control therefor, a priming valve to control the admission of fuel to the engine biased to closed position, and a connection between said priming valve and the throttle control whereby actuation of the throttle control to open the throttle valve also opens the priming valve, said connection including a pivoted lever and a link engageable with the lever at difierent distances from its pivotal axis, and temperature actuated means to vary the point of connection between the link and the lever and thereby control the degree of opening of the priming valve by the throttle control.

6. In an automatic priming device for internal combustion engines having a throttle valve and. a control therefor, a valve to control the admission of fuel to the engine, a spring to yieldably hold the valve closed, a connection between the priming valve and the throttle control to open the priming valve as the throttle valve is opened, said connection comprising, a pivoted lever, a link detachably connected with said lever and a thermostat to move the link to a position incapable of connection with said lever upon a temperature rise at a selected region of the engine whereby the priming valve is opened in conjunction with opening of the throttle valve only until predetermined temperature conditions in the engine have been attained.

'7. In an automatic priming device for internal combustion engines having a throttle valve and a control therefor, a priming valve to control the admission of fuel to the engine, a connection between the priming valve and the throttle control comprising, a pivotally mounted lever, a second lever pivotally mounted and permanently connected with the throttle control to move directly therewith, a link to connect said levers, and temperature actuated means to disconnect the link from one of said levers upon a predetermined temperature rise in a selected region of the engine, whereby the priming valve is opened in conjunction with the opening of I the throttle'valve only until such predetermined temperature has been attained.

8. In an automatic priming device for internal combustion engines having a throttle valve and a control therefor, 'a priming valve to control the admissionof 'fuel to the engine, a connection between the priming valve and the throttle control comprising, a pivotally mounted lever, a second lever pivotally mounted and permanently connected with the throttle control to move directly therewith, a link pivotally connected to one of said levers and having a detachable connection with the other lever at diflerent distances from the'pivotal axis of said other lever so as to vary the leverage of the connection variations in a selected region of the engine.

9. An automatic priming device for internal combustion engines comprising, a valve to control the admission of fuel to the engine, a spring to yieldably urge the valve closed, temperature actuated means operable to open the valve against the action of the spring and to hold .the valve open until a predetermined high temperature has been reached, a manually operable member, and means to connect said manually operable member with the valve to open the valve against the action of its spring whereby the valve may be opened after the temperature actuated means has permitted the same to be closed by its spring.

10. An automatic priming device for internal combustion engines comprising, a valve to control the admission of fuel to the engine, a spring to yieldably urge the valve closed, temperature actuated means operable to open the valve against the action of the spring and to hold the valve open until a predetermined high temperature has been reached, a manually operable member, means to connect said manually operable member with the valve to open the valve against the action of its spring whereby the valve may be opened after the temperature actuated means has permitted the same to be closed by its spring, and a second temperature actuated means to disconnect the valve from the manual control upon the attainment of a second predetermined higher temperature.

11. In an automatic priming device for internal combustion engines having a throttle valve and a control therefor, a valve tocontrol the admission of fuel to the engine, a spring to close the valve, temperature actuated means to open and hold the valve open against the action of the spring until a predetermined temperature 

